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Item No: 6A Meeting Date: July 9, 2008 Type of Business: Discussion City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Planning Commission From: Heidi Heller, Planning Associate Item Title/Subject: Discussion about Potential Code Amendments for Senior Housing Facilities Staff has been meeting with a developer about a new senior housing development (including assisted living and memory care units) for three parcels (totaling 2.38 acres) on the northwest corner of Groveland Road and County Highway 10. The developer plans to submit their development applications to the City fairly soon. Staff has been looking at the city code to determine what the City requirements are for this type of development and what planning actions the developer will need to apply for. From this research we are finding that the current city code is lacking direction and guidelines for these facilities. The assisted living and memory care piece of this project would be new for Mounds View. There are currently three other senior housing developments in the city, but all of them are only “independent living” and do not provide the services, nursing assistance or specialized living arrangements that are available at assisted living facilities. Any senior housing development in Mounds View would be zoned either R-4, high density residential or PUD if they have at least a three acre parcel. If the property would be zoned R- 4, a conditional use permit would also be necessary for any type of multi-family housing. Zoning Code Chapter 1109.04 Subdivision 2, lists the conditional use requirements for “nursing homes and other senior congregate housing” (see city code on page 5). The City has had the mindset that this type of housing must meet specific requirements by incorporating a section in the code just for senior housing. However, these facilities and their services have changed in the last several years and are often now a different type of product than independent living apartments. The primary issues that staff found when looking at the city code for reviewing the latest proposal is allowed density, minimum unit size, and parking requirements. Assisted living and memory care units are much smaller (300-600 square feet) than independent living or regular multi-family housing units (700-1100+ square feet). Because of the small units, the density for senior housing buildings, especially with those assisted living/memory care units, is at a much higher level now than allowed by city code. The parking needs are much less in assisted living and memory care buildings than those for a typical multi-family building or even a senior independent living building. Nationwide, renting households with all members aged 65 or older own an average of 0.6 vehicles. Staff has been doing research into what other cities are doing or requiring when dealing with this type of development. Many cities have found their city codes needing new direction and standards for these facilities, and a few do have some specific requirements when dealing with senior living buildings. Another common tool that cities use to accommodate new senior housing developments is to zone them as a PUD (Planned Unit Development). This could be another option for the City – require all senior housing developments to be approved as a